By Romy Stephens
Mount Evelyn Football Netball Club’s Kaitlyn Black has made her much-anticipated debut in Suncorp Super Netball.
After having spent a few weeks cheering for her Collingwood Magpies teammates from the sidelines, it was finally Black’s time to shine on 9 September.
She made her debut appearance in Australia’s strongest national netball competition during the first quarter in the Magpies’ clash against the GWS Giants.
“It was awesome, I actually don’t think I was as nervous as I expected,” Black said after the game.
“I think it helps having had a few weeks now sitting on the bench and cheering, it sort of just felt quite natural.
“The best thing was running out on court, I literally felt all six other girls on court whisper my name and give me a tap and I really felt the support, so it was great.”
Despite recording a turnover during her minutes playing in Wing Defence, Black also had a pickup, applied good pressure and helped transition out of defence on numerous occasions.
During her time on court (just over six minutes) the Pies extended their lead by two goals, before she returned to the bench and they ended up going down in a hard-fought, 62-58, loss.
Black said the entire game was “electric,” even from the sidelines.
“We know that the last quarter for us has been a real focus and we’re in every week and then it’s the last quarter that often lets us down,” she said.
“So even the five of us on the bench were really focused on giving it everything, I think there was three of us that couldn’t even sit down for the last five minutes.”
Collingwood is currently sitting bottom on the ladder and will face Sunshine Coast Lightning and the Queensland Firebirds during the final two rounds of the regular season.
